Unpleasant past Bright Future
by walkerfan
Summary: its been years since i've written this. will update soon. please read and review so far
1. Default chapter

It was 3am when Sydney got the call form the hospital informing her that her older brother, Tony, had been in an accident. She sped off towards the hospital after calling Gage to tell him what had happened, silently praying that Tony was ok and that it was, if anything, just a few minor scrapes and bruises.

When she arrived, she asked to speak with the doctor about Tony and he informed her that he was in a terrible accident and was currently in surgery.

"I'm Sorry Ms. Cooke, but all you can do right now is wait. We're doing everything we can and I will come out and contact you the moment he is out of surgery."

Sydney sat down in the waiting area with her head in her hands. Everything seemed to be moving slowly and it seemed as if time had actually stopped. What felt like an eternity, had soon been overtaken with past memories. Sydney started going over memories of Tony and her as kids. All the fun they had together as kids and one thing in particular she will never forget.

Back when Sydney was in college, it was nearing the end of the term and all the exams were taking place. One of her friends was throwing a party to celebrate the end of their studies and it took over almost an entire floor. Sydney had wanted to study for a bit more before going to the party but was soon convinced to just not study and come to the party earlier. Everything was going fine until she set her drink down to go to the restroom. When she came back, she noticed a guy around the same age as her next to where she had left her drink.

"I noticed you left your drink alone. I thought I'd be a nice guy and guard it for you, just incase." He said.

"Thanks. I'm Sydney." She said cautiously.

"Josh. Nice to meet you." He said as he reached out to shake her hand.

Although he seemed like a nice enough guy, there was something about him that made her on edge. She shrugged it off and continued to enjoy the party with her girlfriends, taking sips form her drink, but it wasn't long before she started feeling dizzy. As she stumbled around trying to find somewhere to sit, Josh caught sight of her and walked over to her.

"Dizzy are we? Well, lets just get you someplace a little quieter." said Josh in a voice that gave Sydney chills.

Tony, who had decided to surprise Sydney during her last few nights on campus, wandered up the stairs towards the loud racket coming from the party. He saw lots of Sydney's friends, but no Sydney. He decided to check some of the bedrooms and was deeply angered about what he had walked in on. Josh had Sydney lying on the bed and was hovering over her, kissing her as she tried to move away.

"HEY! Get off of her!" screamed Tony as Josh jumped up and tried to strike against him Unsuccessful at his task, Josh was soon lying in a pile of himself near the door while Tony went over to check on Sydney. During that brief moment, Josh had managed to collect himself and take off, not before issuing a warning.

"This isn't over! I will have her, and you will not stop me!"

Sydney shuttered as the memory washed over her and as she fought back tears. As she let out a deep sigh, she looked up and saw a familiar face.

"Hey Shorty. You ok?" said Gage as he scooped her up in her arms and held her for a moment before asking what happened.


	2. I'm here for you

"What are you doing hear?" Sydney asked, obviously shocked.

"Are you kidding me? I wasn't about to stay home and let you be here all alone when I knew you would need someone." Gage replied with a softness she had never heard from him before.

"Thanks for coming Gage. The doctor hasn't come out for a while now so I don't know what has happened yet. I don't know what I'm going to do without him. He's always been there for me, and now, when_ he_ needs _me_, there isn't anything I can do for him." She said as tears filled her eyes once again and she placed her head in her hands.

"Shh, Syd it's going to be ok. Don't worry. It's probably nothing big. And don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here with you until you get bored with me. And even then, I'm still not gunna leave you." Gage said as he put his arms around her and tried to lighten the mood.

"Thanks Gage, I can't even begin to tell you how much that—"

"Ms. Cooke? Sorry to interrupt but your brother is out of surgery now and I hate to tell you, but it's not looking good. This wasn't just a regular car accident. It appears that your brother took a bullet through the upper right chest_ first_ and then lost control of the vehicle. The bullet punctured his lung and he has lost a lot of blood. He also has a concussion and a few broken ribs. He is currently unconscious and the next 24 hours will be critical. The police report said there was a bullet hole in the front windshield and it looked like it was deliberate. I'm sorry, I'll contact you if there is any change, but for now, you should probably go home and get some rest. There is nothing you can do now but wait."

"Ok…. Thanks doctor." The words tore though her like a knife. She would have fallen to the ground if Gage wasn't there to support her.

"Come on Syd, let me take you home. We can get your car tomorrow. You need to rest so that when Tony _does _wake up, you'll be fully energized to help him find out who did this." Said Gage.

"Ok." Sydney said, barely above a whisper. By now, her mind was flooded with thoughts and emotions that seemed to take over her whole body. She hardly noticed when Gage put his arm around her shoulder and walked her to his car. Only when they reached her apartment did she finally snap back to reality.

"Alright, so would you like me to pick you up in the morning and take you to the hospital or would you---"

"Could you maybe…. stay with me tonight…." Sydney said with tears in her eyes, not wanting to be alone.

"Of course, whatever you need." said Gage as he pulled the car into a parking space and walked up with Sydney to her apartment.

As they entered her apartment, Gage immediately said he would be on the couch if she needed anything but Sydney insisted he sleep in her bed with her because the couch was rather small and not a pull out.

"Sure, whatever you want me to do." replied Gage.

As they slid into bed, Sydney's back to Gage's front, he heard her crying and draped his arm around her waist providing a silent comfort in which she gratefully accepted and in turn, she rolled over to face him and fell asleep in his arms. The night had really taken a toll on her as her brother lay fighting for his life in the hospital and unpleasant past memories were resurfaced.

It had only been about an hour into their sleep when Sydney started whimpering in her sleep as strangled 'no's' passed her lips. Suddenly as if out of nowhere, Sydney started to cry and struggled to break free of Gage's embrace, not knowing it was him.

"Syd, Syd…shhhh, its ok. It's me, it's Gage. " said Gage over her cries in his attempt to calm her own, trying not to worry too much, or at least not sound worried.

"G- Gage...I'm sorry I…I thought you were someone else…" she replied not even thinking about what she had just let slip.

Gage's worry was plainly obvious now as he asked her what was wrong. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to hear from his beloved partner.

"Someone else? Syd…what do you mean?" said Gage almost in a panic.

"It was a long time ago. It doesn't matt---"

"Talk to me Shorty. Tell me what's wrong. And don't tell me that it doesn't matter because it DOES matter. Whatever it is, it's clearly still tormenting you. Now, tell me what happened." Gage said sternly but softly as he prepared himself for Sydney's story.


	3. Past Revealed

"Gage, I… it's not even worth mentioning, really. It was just something that almost happened and it's not even important." pleaded Sydney, not wanting to reveal an almost life changing event.

"Syd, listen to me. I can tell that something is bothering you and it's obvious that it IS worth mentioning. Please tell me. I promise I wont freak out or anything, I want you to feel like you can tell me things that are on your mind and that you can trust—"

"I DO trust you, probably more than you even know so believe me, it's not that. It's just that…fine. OK. I'll tell you." Sydney said to reassure him of his standards in her life.

"Please, just let me be here for you." said Gage.

"OK. Back in college, it was nearing the end of the year and there was a huge party on my campus. Everything was going fine until I went to the restroom. I had set my drink down and when I came back there was a guy around my age, Josh, hanging around. I had seen him looking at me a few times that night but didn't really think much of it. Anyways, I went back over to where I was standing before and he said he was guarding my drink, you know, 'just incase'…" Sydney paused as she watched Gage come to terms with what she was about to tell him. She had a feeling that he knew where this story was going.

"I thanked him for watching my drink and didn't really think anything of it. I went off to meet up with some of my girlfriends who were across the room. We were just dancing and having a good time when I started to feel dizzy. This so called nice guy just happened to notice and he…took me to a bedroom, somehow convincing me that the quite would make me less dizzy. I wasn't really aware of what was happening and…well…."

"Syd? Did he….did he hurt you?" Gage asked with both worry and anger in his voice.

"No. He didn't' get that far. Tony had decided to visit me that same night and he ended up walking in on Josh and I when he couldn't find me out on the dance floor and well, he did what any big brother would do. When he went to check on me to make sure I was ok, Josh had managed to take off…but not before he shouted out that this wasn't over yet and that…"

"Go on." Gage said as his eyes softened as he looked at her.

"He said that he would have me one day and that Tony wouldn't stop him." Sydney concluded as she shivered at the thought of this man being near her again.

"Oh Syd, I swear, if I ever get my hands on this guy I'm going to rip his—"

"Gage. It's ok. I don't even know why I'm letting this get to me. It was years ago. He was probably just drunk anyways." said Sydney as she tried to lighten the mood, hating to see Gage angry over this.

"I don't care if he was drunk or sober. The fact is that he tried to hurt you, and as long as I'm around, nobody will ever hurt you and get away with it. And I know why this is getting to you. You're brother is in the hospital fighting for his life, and you were just remembering all the times you have shared with him. But don't worry Shorty, he'll be fine and you'll make a ton of new memories. You are entitled to millions of great memories."

"Thanks Gage. You always know what to say to make me feel better. Thanks for being here with me. I don't know what I'd do without you." Sydney said as she threw her arms around Gage's neck and hugged him.

"Anytime, Syd. I'll always be here for you. I promise." Gage said as he returned the embrace by wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her close to comfort her.

It wasn't long before the two of them had fallen asleep again. Sydney had her head resting on Gage's chest while her arm wrapped around his torso. Gage had Sydney safely wrapped in his arms and they slept that way for the rest of the night, Sydney feeling safe in Gage's arms, and Gage glad to provide the safety for her. Both of them loved the closeness of each other, and maybe one day, would come to realize how much the other meant to them.


	4. Unexpected Gift

The next morning when Sydney and Gage woke up, Gage called Walker to let him know what had happened to Sydney's brother and to tell him where they would be while Sydney got ready for the day.

"Thanks for letting me know Gage. Tell Sydney that we will all come down to the hospital later today." said Walker.

"Yeah no problem boss. We'll see you later." replied Gage.

Almost as soon as Gage hung up the phone, Sydney came out of her bedroom fully dressed and ready to face the day. They're first stop would be Gage's apartment so he could get a change of clothes and get ready. Then it would be the hospital to see if there was any change in Tony.

"I'll just be a few minutes Syd. Make yourself at home." Gage said as they entered his apartment. While Gage went to have a shower, Sydney explored his living room. She noticed on a bookshelf a few pictures of him and Julie, some of Trivette, Walker and Alex after the Walkers' wedding and about 7 pictures of herself and Gage, along with a couple of just her. One taken at the Walker wedding and one taken at Christmas time. She had never even seen those pictures before.

"Nice pictures." said Sydney as Gage came out of his room showered and dressed.

"Thanks. I've been meaning to show you those but with work and all…it's been kind of busy…." stuttered Gage.

"Yeah." said Sydney with a smile. "So, you ready?"

"Yeah let me just grab my jacket and we'll be on our way."

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor had informed them that Tony was still unconscious but things were starting to look better.

"Excuse me, but are you Sydney Cooke?" asked a nurse.

"Yes I am. Can I help you?"

"I didn't remember until this morning, but when we were removing your brothers clothing and accessories from him before surgery, he had a note in his pocket addressed with your name on it."

"Thanks." Sydney said as she looked at Gage who was waiting to find out what the note revealed.

'sydney, phone call from 687-5465. not same name as current. Not N.C."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Gage who was obviously confused.

"I have no idea. But whatever it is, it was important enough for him to write down for me. Lets go back to headquarters and see what Walker thinks. I've got to do some searching anyways to find out if there has been any recent prison breaks that could somehow relate to Tony being shot."

When they arrived at headquarters, they filled Walker in on everything that had happened and they all began to search old records to see if there was anybody who would have something against Sydney and take it out on someone she cared about.

"I've got to run this down to the copy room. I'll be back in a minute or two." said Sydney to Gage as she left her desk.

"Alright." said Gage.

No more than two minutes after Sydney left the room did her phone ring. Gage being the closest to her phone answered it for her. "Ranger Cooke's line."

"……."

"Hello? Is anybody there?" asked Gage after hearing nothing but breathing on the other line.

Just as Sydney walked back in the room, the person on the line hung up. 

"What's up? Someone call from the hospital?"

"No, whoever it was didn't say anything. I could hear heavy breathing but when I asked who was there, they hung up.

"That's strange. I wonder who it was. Oh well, if it was important, they will call back. But until then, I just discovered that there were a few convicts who escaped last week form Huntsville. Shall we check it out?" Sydney asked.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go right now." Gage said still going over the phone call in his mind. He didn't know why, but something about the person who called gave him an uneasy feeling.

Just as they were leaving the room, a delivery man approached them.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find a Sydney cooke?" he asked.

"That would be me." Sydney said as she received the box.

"Just sign here please. Have a good day." he said before he left.

"That's weird. There's no return address." Sydney stated before proceeding to examine the box.

"Hmm…there's only one way to find out what's inside of it." Gage said.

"Ok." Sydney said as she began to tear open the box, not expecting in a hundred years to find what she had.

"Oh my God!" They both said in unison as the package was revealed.


	5. Taken

No less than 3 dozen pictures of Sydney, Gage and both of them together were in the box, all of which had Gage's head crossed out and Sydney's head circled.. There was no return address and the pictures dated back to at least 5 months ago. The most recent pictures were taken no more than one week ago and were taken everywhere form headquarters to recent busts that they had done.

"Who could have done this?" Gage asked with anger and worry in his voice.

"No idea…" Sydney said as she trailed off and immediately thought of the phone call that Gage had answered on her phone only moments ago. "You don't think this could have anything to do with that phone call do you?"

"Maybe, but, do you have any idea who would want revenge on either of us at this point in time? Any of our recent cases come to mind?"

"Not really. Everything seems to be fine now. As far as I know, everyone who would have it in for us is behind bars." Sydney said.

Just then Sydney's desk phone rang again as Sydney and Gage exchanged a glance.

"Ranger Cooke." Sydney said and waited for a reply.

"… hope you liked my gift…" said a voice on the other end of the line of which Sydney did not recognize. Just as she was about to reply, the line went dead. She didn't know what was happening, or who was doing this, but, it was all taking its toll on her and she raced off towards the restroom as all the color drained form her face.

"Syd!" Gage shouted as she passed by him. He was clearly worried about her and couldn't help himself as he followed her down the hallway to the restroom, even though he knew he was not supposed to go in there.

As he entered the restroom, he immediately saw Sydney leaning against the sink with her head bowed down. He had never seen her look so pale and didn't know what to do. So he did the only thing he thought might help. He approached her from behind and gently placed his hand on her shoulder and in turn, she turned around to face him with tears in her eyes.

"Syd…don't worry. Everything is going to be OK." Said Gage with the same softness he gave her at the hospital.

"I'm sorry Gage, I feel like I'm falling apart here. Someone is obviously after us, or at least one of us, and I have no idea who it could be. I can't help feeling responsible for this seeing as how the package was addressed to me and the phone calls and I just… can't…" she said as she took a deep breath trying to force back the tears.

"Listen to me, we'll catch whoever is behind this. I promise you. And don't feel like this is your fault. Just because the package was addressed to you, doesn't necessarily mean anything. For all we know, it could be a diversion to get to me. I'd actually prefer if it WAS for me, you've got enough going on with Tony already, you don't need any of this."

"Gage, don't say that you wish it was for you. Whether Tony is in the hospital or not, it wouldn't change this. Either way we have to deal with this."

"And we'll do it together." Gage said and watched as Sydney finally relaxed and calmed down.

"Thanks." Sydney said, realizing that Gage truly meant when he said that he would always be here for her.

Gage, noticing that Sydney was finally calm and ready to go back out there, gave her a small hug and a kiss on the temple before they proceeded back into the office as a sign that he would in fact be there for her. He decided right then and there that he would do anything in the world to protect her if this new case put her in danger. He was not about to lose her to this, and was going to make sure that whoever was behind this would pay. He didn't know why, but there was something about this new situation with the pictures that made him feel like he needed to protect Sydney more than usual.

Later that day, after discovering that there had not been any recent prison breaks and getting no leads on the pictures, Sydney and Gage were just about to head out for the night when Gage asked Sydney if she was going to the hospital.

"I'll go with you if you'd like. I can drive you home as well" said Gage.

"No, I think I'll just go to the hospital tomorrow morning. But since you offered, you can drive me home." Sydney said with a smile.

"Sure thing, Shorty." Gage said as he playfully elbowed her.

When they reached her apartment, Gage was just about to volunteer to walk her up to her apartment when she offered him a cup of coffee for the ride. Gage, being a coffee lover, gladly accepted as he parked the car and they made there way upstairs. Upon reaching her suite, they noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Drawing their weapons, they slowly entered the dark apartment only to find the place in ruins. Gage immediately scanned the rest of the apartment as Sydney took in the site of her home.

"Oh my God." she said, barely above a whisper as the image before her settled in. All her pictures and albums had been destroyed and any pictures of Gage were crossed out just like the package pictures. Dishes were broken and the furniture was turned all over the place.

"Syd…I'm so sorry. You're bedroom isn't any better than this. Clothes are everywhere and you're bed has been turned over. I don't know who would have done this or what they were looking for."

"Gage…" said Sydney as she pointed to the glass coffee table which was turned on its side. The glass was cracked, but not completely shattered, and on it was the word 'SOON' written in a red marker which appeared to be the same one marking all the pictures.

"That's it. Whoever this person is knows your work number, work address and, now, where you live. You are staying with me until this whole thing is over." Gage said with anger in his voice as the situation was starting to sink in. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of someone wanting to hurt Sydney and was going to make sure it didn't get to that point. "I want to make sure you are safe, and the only way to do that, is to personally protect you until this whole thing blows over. I'm going to call walker and tell him what's happening while you get some things together. I'm not leaving you alone."

Sydney didn't say anything. All she did was go into her apartment, gather some clothes and other necessities, and join Gage again in her once clean living room. Gage grabbed her bags in one hand, and protectively put his free arm around her as they walked out of her building to his car.

The ride was silent as they proceeded to Gage's apartment. When they were about 2 miles away, they suddenly heard gunshots as one punctured the front tire and the car spun out of control and they crashed into a nearby tree where they were both knocked unconscious. Neither had noticed that they picked up a tale almost immediately upon leaving Sydney's apartment.

Two men approached the car and grabbed Sydney out of the passesnger side while leaving Gage for dead.

"Shouldn't we get rid of him?" one man asked.

"No. We don't have time. We wouldn't want to keep the boss waiting." replied the second man.

With that being said, the two men tossed Sydney into the back of the van they were driving and sped off into the night, leaving Gage to die. It wasn't long after the men left, that Gage began to regain consciousness.

"Syd…..S-S-Syd." Gage coughed as darkness overtook him and he slipped back into the blackness.


End file.
